


The Soulmate Experience

by lovelyauthor



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst comes a bit later, But in a kind of innocent way?, Comfort/Angst, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Grandma's a slave driver, Grocery Shopping, Holding Hands, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Mostly Fluff, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Plus-Sized Original Character, it's not really mentioned much, oh yeah she's plus sized just so y'all know, y'all chapter 4 made me sad to write it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 03:59:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14824859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelyauthor/pseuds/lovelyauthor
Summary: Chouko Hisakawa wasn't expecting much when she moved back to Torono. Oh, she definitely expected to catch up with her brother-figure and help out at the family bakery. But she wasn't expecting to run into her soulmate at her new school, Karasuno High.Awesome.EXCEPT, he has no idea that she's his soulmate and should she bother telling him? Especially when he has the hots for another girl? Yeah, not awesome. Eh, maybe she'll keep it her little secret for now. Have to wait for the right time, right?





	1. First Encounters

**Author's Note:**

> Haha, so I actually started this thing a little over two years ago with no intentions of ever publishing it. But I read it again a couple months back and decided to edit it, add a little more, and it's by no means perfect. It's still awkward and doesn't flow all that well (I only wrote down what I felt like writing instead of a full on story). I made it a little more coherent, but if y'all ever have any questions, don't be afraid to ask!

Soulmates were a special thing, as all children are taught from a young age. They were the ones destined to be together so long as they had matching tattoos that appeared anywhere on their body once they reached puberty. Not everyone was lucky enough to find their match, but were often perfectly content with someone else. The most fascinating thing about soulmate tattoos was how they changed and grew with the person. Someone could start with a tiny sprout on their wrist and it could grow into a beautiful garden up their arm. 

I was always curious about my soulmate. My tattoo, which started off as a cute little caterpillar and a lizard circling each other, eventually blossomed into a pretty blue butterfly and a fierce, blazing, serpentine dragon. It was certainly an odd combination, but I grew to love it, especially the dragon. It nearly took up all of my back, circling the butterfly from a distance. 

“Whoever they are, they must have a a lot of love to give you if your tattoo is that big,” my grandmother told me once when I mentioned offhandedly how different it was compared to when it first appeared. It was hard to believe her, considering how slightly terrifying the dragon looked.

Whoever my soulmate was, I hoped they were nice at the very least.

* * *

 

“Daichi, do you have practice again today?” I pouted as I followed the third year through the halls of the school.

“Today, tomorrow, and every other day of the week, Chouko,” he chuckled, patting me on the head. “You could just come in and watch us if you want to hang out.”

Our families had been friends long before either of us were born and it wasn’t surprising when they forced us to play together from the time we were in diapers. Being two years older than me, Daichi took up a big brother role once I entered school and it was all fun and great until my family relocated to Tokyo for business. We did our best to keep up a correspondence during those years and now I was back! But he was a third year and the head of a sports club, so needless to say, it was difficult finding time to hang out and catch up.

“But that’s not me hanging out, Daichi. That’s me sitting there on my beautiful ass, watching guys get all sweaty and gross from hitting and passing a ball around,” I said, pushing his hand away before grinning. “But I suppose I can watch you guys today. Grandma and Grandpa have the shop covered and Mom’s finally helping them out.  _ And _ I may have some cake I made yesterday stashed in the kitchen.”

“Ah, you’re an angel, Chouko,” Daichi sighed blissfully. “It’s been too long since I’ve had your baking.”

“Well I made some melonpan too just in case no one is up for cake,” I said, making Daichi chuckle.

“Oh, Tanaka is going to love you. His favorite food just so happens to be melonpan.”

“Huh, what a coincidence. So, I’ll meet you at the gym, bro. I’ve got a cake and sweet buns to rescue.”

I gave him a small salute before skipping off in the direction of the kitchen. It took some convincing to allow the cafeteria workers to let me use their refrigerator for my sweets but they caved in the end. They were really nice though and helped me find a spot for them. I originally brought the cake and sweet buns for Daichi to take home to his family, but since he had  _ another _ practice sessions with his volleyball team, I might as well treat everyone else to my homemade baking.

They were still perfect. The cake was red velvet with beautiful cream cheese frosting decorating it and the buns still looked like melons and were pretty big. Hopefully they would satisfy the hunger of sweaty teenage boys once practice was over.

Despite being at Karasuno High for awhile now, I never got around to meeting Daichi’s teammates, other than Suga. he told some pretty great stories about them, but I just never met them. My grandparents own a little bakery and sometimes they needed my help running the place, mainly working in the kitchen. Since I was young and relatively quick on my feet despite my size, I was more or less the head baker. On the bright side, I knew a lot of recipes and could lift a lot of weight, but I also didn’t get to spend as much time with my honorary big brother as I’d like and I always got flour and sugar in my bra. I don’t know how it happens, but it’s annoying as hell.

Lost in my thoughts, I failed to notice two students running through the halls in a race. By the time one of them shouted for me to move, it was too late. I squealed and held the cake and melon bread in the air while an orange blur slammed into me. On the bright side, the cake was completely unharmed. Other than that, my body was in pain and a short kid was sprawled across my stomach.

“Idiot, watch where you’re going,” a black haired boy hissed, yanking the orange haired boy off of me. “Apologize.”

“I’m so sorry!” the orange head squeaked, bowing lowly.

Groaning, I sat up and stared at the boys. My cake was okay and that’s all that really mattered. “You’re fine, really, it’s my fault for not paying attention. But, uh, you mind holding these things for a second?”

“Of course!”

I carefully handed the plate and melon bread to the orange haired boy and stood up, brushing my skirt and blazer off before smiling brightly at the duo. I faintly recognized them from class, but couldn’t remember their names for the life of me.

“Do you need help with these?” the orange haired boy asked, looking guilty as he held the pile of baked sweets.

“I can take them, don’t worry. I’m just heading down to the boy’s volleyball practice and it’s not that far away,” I said.

The boy visibly brightened, smiling like the sun. “We’re part of the boy’s volleyball team! We can take you there!”

I blinked before shrugging. “Okay, I’m Hisakawa Chouko by the way.”

“I’m Hinata Shoyo,” he chirped before roughly elbowing the boy beside him, who glared at him in return.

“Kageyama Tobio.”

We started walking and talking, with Hinata and I talking the most. Occasionally I could coerce a few words out of Kageyama, but for the most part he was silent. After a little bit of pleading, I got to hold the cake while Hinata carried the melon buns. He was adamant on helping me since he knocked me down and almost ruined my hard work. I had to keep reassuring him that it was fine and even if the cake was ruined, I still had the bread.

“Why are you going to the volleyball club, Hisakawa-san?” Hinata asked as the gym came into sight.

“Oh, I promised to visit Daichi and meet his team,” I said.

“Wha--you know the captain?!”

“Yep! We grew up together but a couple years ago I moved away and now that I’m back, he really wants me to meet you guys,” I giggled, drumming my fingers underneath the plate. “That and I really want to hang out like we used to and the only way for that to happen is if I come to practice!”

I skipped ahead to the door to the gymnasium and was met with the sight of several males, all but one of which who were taller than me, practicing receives, spikes, tossing, among other things. Daichi himself was working with his friend, Sugawara Koushi, whom I met earlier that week when I ran into the both of them in the hall. Instead of interrupting practice, I walked over to the bleachers with a content smile and set the cake down. Hinata set down the bag of melon buns before bowing.

“I’m so sorry, again!”

“It’s fine, please stop apologizing,” I said weakly, placing my hands on his shoulders and forcing him to stand up. “You have practice, now go before Daichi gets mad, okay?”

That was all Kageyama needed to drag Hinata out to the middle of the court by the net. I hummed softly, digging through my bag and pulling out a small, worm sketch book and a pencil. I went unnoticed by the volleyball team for quite some time, doodling as I waited for Daichi to call for a break. At one point I was approached by the club advisor, Takeda-sensei, and the club manager, a beautiful girl named Shimizu Kiyoko. We talked for a little bit, I even split a melon bun with her, and when Daichi called for a break, I helped her pass out water and towels for the boys.

“Kiyoko-san!” two voices yelled excitedly.

I squeaked when two blurs rushed by me, nearly knocking me over if Daichi hadn’t steadied me. A short boy, the shortest of the team, with spiky dark brown hair with a single blonde highlight practically bowed at Kiyoko’s feet. the other boy nearly took my breath away. he was lean and tall with a shaved head and sharp golden brown eyes that glistened as he jumped around Kiyoko excitedly. A shiver went down my spine, a sensation I attributed to whenever something affected my tattoo.

“Hey, Tanaka, Noya,” Daichi exclaimed in the tone I easily recognized as his angry one. I bit my lip to keep from giggling as they instantly stood to attention, looking slightly nervous under the gaze of the third year. “Watch where you’re running, okay? You almost ran over my friend.”

A giggle escaped me as the two boys, Tanaka and Noya, gaped at me, their mouths opening and closing like a fish on dry land. I lightly nudged Daichi’s side and smile sweetly.

“Daichi, stop scaring your teammates. I’ll have to give away my treats to someone else if you keep it up,” I said.

Daichi toned down his frightening side and ruffled my hair with a warm smile. “Everyone, this is Hisakawa Chouko, a childhood friend of mine. Chouko, I’d like to introduce you to Sugawara, Asahi, Ennosita, Kinoshita, Narita, Tanaka, Nishinoya, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Kageyama, and Hinata.”

“It’s very nice to meet you all,” I chirped brightly. “Daichi mentioned that you guys usually get some kind of treat after practice so I brought some homemade treats that I hope you’ll enjoy.”

“Captain, your friend is the best!” Noya cheered.

* * *

 

As practice finally finished up, I helped with the clean up, doing my best to keep from giggling. Throughout the rest of practice, my back wouldn’t stop tingling and it was starting to feel ticklish. I was completely dumbfounded since generally when my tattoo changed, the sensation lasted a couple of seconds. It honestly worried me until during a friendly practice match, Tanaka managed to successfully spike the ball and gain his team a point. In his excitement, he practically ripped his shirt off and started swinging it around, shouting cheers that got Hinata and Nishinoya pumped. But covering the entirety of his back was a tattoo. A giant, powerful dragon circled his back and at the very center was a gentle blue butterfly.

The tingling sensation still lingered after this discovery, but I chalked it up to the fact that, hey,  _ I found my fucking soulmate _ . I vaguely remembered my grandma telling me what it was like when she met Grandpa, her soulmate.

_ “The moment I locked eyes on him, I knew he was my soulmate and my tattoo just wouldn’t stop tingling for hours. I think it’s just it’s way of celebrating that I found your grandfather,” she said, looking fondly at the beautiful black ink on her wrist that took the shape of a recipe book, nearing the end of it’s wonderful recipes. “You know, it used to be two separate things. Your grandfather was a strawberry cake and I was a cake knife. It wasn’t until we met and got to know each other that that knife cut into the cake and eventually turned into our book.” _

I pondered for a short while if that meant that until Tanaka really got to know me as his soulmate, our representations wouldn’t touch. But then I remembered how he looked at Kiyoko with such adoring eyes and flushed cheeks. Not all soulmates were destined for each other, sometimes it was one sided. Perhaps that was my case. It would be better just to let him be happy trying to gain Kiyoko’s affections than revealing my matching tattoo.

Sighing, I walked over to the cake and melonpan, idly wondering if the storage closet would by chance have napkins and utensils. It seemed Daichi came prepared and tossed me a bag containing a plastic knife, forks, little plates, and enough napkins for everyone. Smiling, I hummed to myself as I cut the cake into enough pieces for everyone just in case. The third years were the first to choose what they wanted: Daichi and Suga going for the cake while Asahi stuck with a melon bun. I giggled over the fact Daichi looked like he was on cloud nine after the first bite.

“Grandma says you’re free to stop at the shop for a family discount,” I reminded him as I served Hinata a slice of cake.

“Whoa, you made these, Hisakawa-san?” Tanaka gushed, already halfway through his melonpan.

I flushed a little at how, well,  _ adorable _ he looked. Strange, considering people would probably think he was a tough bad boy just from one glance at him, but he looked down at me with glittering eyes, ecstatic to be given his favorite food for free. It was hard to believe he was anything remotely hardcore.

“Yeah. It’s my grandparents recipe, probably my favorite,” I said with a smile before biting my lip thoughtfully. “If you like it that much, I could make you some more next week, Tanaka-senpai.”

He visibly lit up at my words. I jumped a little when he suddenly got in my face, smiling brighter than the sun. Some of the crumbs stuck to his face and it took a lot of self restraint not to coo about how adorable he was being.

“Yes! That would be awesome! As your senpai, I will gladly accept any melonpan you make with your delicate, hardworking hands!” he shouted.

I blinked, a giggle slipping out from the tingling in my back that just seemed to intensify a little from the look he was giving me. Instead of speaking, I just nodded and scurried over to Daichi and Suga to strike up a conversation about their practice. Daichi gave me a curious look but I shook my head and smiled at Suga. No doubt he would ask about my behavior towards Tanaka later, but for now, I just wanted to talk and not think about my tattoo.


	2. Slice of Life Bakery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chouko is just spending another day at the family bakery when the Karasuno's male volleyball team decides to stop by for a treat.

Humming softly, my hips swayed to the music that played in the currently empty bake shop as I wiped down the counters and case. In the back, I could hear the bakers singing loudly and off key, making me laugh. Grandpa smirked to himself from where he sat at the bar counter, flipping through the morning’s newspaper.

It was the weekend and that meant I was helping out with the family business while Grandma was at home taking care of Mom. These quiet times in the bakery were my favorite simply because we could be ourselves. I could dance and hum to my heart's content, Grandpa could read his newspaper without having to entertain customers, and the others could be as endearingly obnoxious as they wanted to be.

“Your grandma tells me that your tattoo changed,” Grandpa said gruffly as a lull fell between the end of the song and the start of a new one.

“My tattoo always changes,” I said easily, crouching down to look at the sweets in the display case. I always brought some home at the end of the day to snack on but since I was going to visit the boy’s volleyball team more often, I might as well pick out something they might like.

“She says your symbols are almost  _ touching _ ,” he enunciated, flipping to another page.

“Well, I suppose that’s because I met my soulmate and he doesn’t know it,” I replied in a soft tone with a matching smile, placing my elbow on my thigh and my chin in my hand. “He’s in love with another girl, Gramps. He just lights up whenever he sees her, like she’s his entire world.”

Grandpa set his newspaper down and stood up, popping a few joints much to his irritation. He shuffled over and ruffled my hair gently, a motion I’ve come very familiar with ever since Mom and I moved in with him and Grandma. Grandpa wasn’t a very affectionate person, the one exception being Grandma, and hair ruffles were his way of expressing his condolences.

“I’m sorry, my little butterfly. Who knows? There might be someone else out there who’s even better than your soulmate,” he grumbled quietly.

I smiled up at him. “Somehow, I doubt it, but I’ll believe you.”

The bell above the front entrance gave a sharp jingle, signaling the end of our conversation and the coming of customers. I immediately hopped back to my feet, plastering a sweet, little smile on my face as I smoothed out the wrinkles on my cutesy apron, as required by my grandmother that I wear when I work.

“Welcome to A Slice of Life--uh, Daichi?”

“Hisakawa-chan! You work here?” Hinata gasped excitedly as the boy’s volleyball team entered the little bakery.

Every member of the team was in the shop, whether they wanted to be there or not. Each carried their gym bag, so they either finished up practice or they were on their way to practice. It had been a few weeks since I was introduced to the team and they had no problems integrating me. Since I shared classes with Hinata and Kageyama, I hung out with them the most, but when I got the chance, I chatted with Daichi and Sugawara in the halls, sometimes Asahi when he wasn’t being too shy. There were times when Tanaka and Nishinoya would tag along with us first years, though I think it’s just because they want my baked goods.

True to my word, I made melonpan for Tanaka the week after we met and it’s kind of developed into a weekly thing. Nishinoya started to complain, so I started baking treats for him too. Tanaka pouted a little since he was my “first senpai”, whatever that meant, but got over it when I threw in a red velvet cupcake along with his melonpan. 

Daichi smiled and shook hands with Grandpa.

“It’s been awhile, my boy. I see you’re still playing volleyball,” Grandpa said with a lazy smirk.

“It’s nice to see you again too, Himawari-san. We just finished up practice and I promised to buy them all a treat,” Daichi explained then glanced at me. “Though, Chouko being here on shift is just an added bonus.”

“You know this old guy?” Nishinoya asked rather bluntly, pointing towards Grandpa.

“Well this “old guy” happens to be the owner of this fine establishment, brat. You better watch what you say if you want something good,” Grandpa said through grit teeth and a forced smile while his eyebrows twitched in agitation.

“Grandpa, stop it. They’re my friends,” I reprimanded half-heartedly before facing the club with a bright smile. “So, what can I get you guys?”

“Melonpan!” Tanaka shouted eagerly, his face, along with Nishinoya’s and Hinata’s, pressed against the display case.

Grandpa’s ears perked up at that. He gave me a secretive, sly smirk which I just rolled my eyes at and gently nudged him back to the kitchens. Last thing I needed was him to let loose that Tanaka and I had matching tattoos and force him into something he probably didn’t want. Snickering to himself, Grandpa walked to the kitchens with a swagger in his step.

“Don’t press your face against the display case. You’re high school students, not children,” Sugawara scolded them.

Rolling my eyes, I opened the case and grabbed the sweet bun then looked at Daichi. “Are you guys staying or do you want to hit the road?”

“We’ll stay. Think you can take a break?” Daichi asked, leaning against the counter as I put the melonpan on a plate.

“I’m still kind of manning the counter, but I can probably get one of the guys in the back to cover for me,” I hummed before turning back to the boys, who now gathered around the glass case. “What else do you guys want?”

Daichi decided to try our new white chocolate and caramel marble cake after much debate. Sugawara, having been at the bakery once before with Daichi apparently, stuck with a spicy chocolate cupcake we made for the more daring customers. Asahi, on the other hand, went with a nutella filled croissant that I warmed up a little just to get the chocolate-hazelnut mixture to liquify a little. Nishinoya, after hearing we made ice cream cake, immediately demanded a slice, not even caring what the flavor was. Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered him mention that his favorite food was Gari-Gari Kun popsicles so I just served him up the closest thing we had in flavor to it. He would’ve leapt over the counter to hug me for “taking careful consideration of your senpai” if Daichi hadn’t grabbed him by the back of his shirt. Kageyama and Yamaguchi settled for a plain vanilla cake and Hinata chose an individual sized chocolate cake filled with chocolate mousse and freshly cut strawberries. Tsukishima, despite browsing the case, wanted nothing. I saw how he kept eyeing the menu then looking at the case in annoyance. We always kept the case stocked with everything on the menu that we could, but then I remembered how a couple came in earlier that morning to buy the whole strawberry shortcake we had for some party.

Grinning to myself, I took Daichi’s money and gave him some change before scurrying to the back, shouting a promise to be back soon.

It was really my fault that I forgot to put the backup cake in the case but then I was swarmed by some college students looking for a sweet breakfast and it just slipped my mind. Pulling the cake out of the industrial sized freezer, I quickly set it down and cut a semi big slice for Tsukishima and put big, juicy strawberries on the side.

“Hey, I’m gonna go on break now, Gramps,” I called out to the elderly man, who was teaching one of the apprentices how to evenly distribute batter in a pan.

Not waiting for a reply, I skipped back out to the front and quickly dropped off the cake in the display case. Walking around the counter, I joined the boys at the tables they pushed together to make room for everyone. Tsukishima was surprised when I put the plate of cake and strawberries in front of him, along with the necessary utensils.

“I didn’t want anything,” the blonde said in a clipped tone, shooting me a glare, which I replied with a smile.

“Yeah, but I’d feel bad if you didn’t eat anything,” I said, pulling up a chair and sitting at the end between Tsukishima and Hinata.

“I’m not paying for it.”

“It’s on the house.”

“If you keep force feeding us your food, we’re going to get fat like you.”

To the others, that may have been a low blow. In fact, I’m sure Daichi just bent the fork at a ninety degree angle in his grip and Tanaka and Nishinoya were about to blow a gasket, but I laughed. My weight wasn’t an issue for me, I even made it clear through the weeks I’ve known the team, but this was the first time Tsukishima made a dig about it.

“But here’s the thing, Tsukishima. You guys workout, I don’t. You actually work off the calories and burn that extra fat and I’m just too lazy to do that,” I chuckled and looked at him under my lashes. “Now, are you going to that cake like a big boy or do I have to give it to someone else?”

He grudgingly picked up his fork and took a bite of the cake. He didn’t say anything but took a second bite, so I took that as a sign that he liked the cake. Hinata turned and looked at me with shiny eyes that threw me off a little.

“That was so cool, Hisakawa-chan,” he awed.

“What was so cool?” I asked, furrowing my brows in confusion.

“You actually won against Stingyshima!” he exclaimed with a large grin, getting a dark look from the tallest volleyball member. “And you weren’t even mean back!”

“Well, I don’t like being mean so I try not to be,” I said though it came out sounding like a confused question. I honestly didn’t get what was so cool about it but Hinata looked at me like I was some kind of hero and my second year senpais got proud tears in their eyes.

“My love! Tell me you aren’t capturing anymore hearts of young men!” A familiar baritone voice yelled dramatically from the back.

I snorted and bit my lip to keep from laughing. “Hayato, we aren’t lovers and I’m not stealing any hearts.”

“Really?” He purred, poking his head out from around the corner, smirking. “‘Cause you’re stealing mine right now.”

The volleyball team gaped at Hayato as he sauntered out, revealing his impressive muscular physique and height of 6’6, easily towering over the gang. He was tan with stylish black hair and catlike green eyes. Hayato was a first year college student and a huge flirt, especially when it came to me, but we both knew it was more like teasing than flirting.

“This is Hayato, a new guy to the bakery,” I introduced him as he stood behind me, completely dwarfing my already not impressive stature.

“Did you know that of all your beautiful curves, your smile is my favorite?” Hayato asked, placing his hands on the back of my chair.

“And he’s a huge flirt.”

“Aw, Chouko-chan, I just wanted to talk to you. You know sweetness is my weakness,” he cooed.

“Get to work, you slacker!” I lightly slapped his hands away from my chair.

“I’m sorry, you’re just so cute, it’s distracting. And I wanted to meet your friends!” Hayato said cheerfully. “So, introductions?”

I ran down the line, mentally laughing at how intimidated a lot of them looked, especially Hinata and Asahi. Unsurprisingly, Tanaka wasn’t that intimidated, but actually looked like he was sizing Hayato up, as if he was determining if he was a threat or something. He did have his delinquent face on, something I learned he did when he met new people.

“Ah, so  _ you’re  _ the precious senpai she keeps making all the melonpan for,” Hayato said in a sly tone with a matching crooked smile as soon as I introduced my secret soulmate. He sighed dramatically before roughly clapping Tanaka on the shoulder. “It seems you have won this fair maiden’s affections. Be gentle with her, or else I’ll have to win back her heart.”

“Hayato, get to work!” I squeaked, red in the face.

“Oh, that was so  _ adorable _ \--”

“I’ll tell Grandma you were slacking off again,” I threatened and he disappeared behind the counter. Sighing, I laughed sheepishly. “Sorry about him, Tanaka-senpai, he can be very dramatic. It would just be best if you forgot what he said.”

He blinked before grinning that cute grin of his. “Your friend’s kind of a weirdo, Hisakawa-chan, but I’ll let it slide just this once. Think you can get me another melonpan?”

Oh god, why was he so cute? Not in a Hinata way, but more like a . . . big dork kind of way.

“Sure,” I chirped and stood up, taking his empty plate.

I didn’t miss the suggestive look and eyebrow waggle Hayato sent me and I didn’t miss his shins when I kicked him after the boy’s volleyball team left.


	3. Punishment? More like FUNishment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chouko is sent to the grocery store by her grandmother to pick up more supplies for a huge last minute order. She expects to run in and run out, but as fate would have it, it wouldn't be that simple.

Yawning, I walked through the market, barely able to keep my eyes open. It was pretty early in the morning and Grandma sent me out to pick up the ingredients for the shop. Some hotshot hired us to make a giant cake for a last minute party and all hands needed to be on board, mainly when we need to transport it tomorrow morning.

Pulling out the list given to me, I groaned at the amount of ingredients. The least she could have done was have Hayato come with me to carry it all.

“It’s what I get for boasting I was the strongest,” I grumbled under my breath.

I may not brag about a lot of things, but being the strongest in the shop is the one I do most, especially after Hayato joined the team. It was like a constant battle between us to determine who the strongest was. An argument in front of Grandma lead to me getting the much needed ingredients all by myself. To top it off, I wasn’t feeling too hot, but as long as I wasn’t coughing or had a runny nose, I was expected to work myself to the bone.

Entering my usual grocery store, I grabbed the nearest cart and started the long process of getting all the ingredients. Thankfully there weren’t that many people in today so I could take my time without stressing about being in other people's’ way. It was hard to really focus on the list since my eyelids felt heavier than a lead weight.

“I really should stop staying up playing games,” I yawned, turning down the baking aisle and made a b-line for the flour.

Grumbling to myself, I started loading up the cart with multiple bags of flour. I repeated this process several times as I made my way down the aisle, picking up packages of sugar, brown sugar, containers of cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, among a few other things for the normal baked goods we sell. Just as I was picking out chunks of dark baking chocolate, a voice caught my attention.

Turning my dead eyes in the direction of the voice, I woke up a little and smiled as Tanaka and a blonde woman walked towards me. I quickly found out that after finding my soulmate, he had this amazing ability to restore some life into me just by looking at him. Internally groaning at how stupid that sounded and how bad I had it, I waved at Tanaka and the blonde woman.

“What are you doing up so early? It was under my assumption that you slept in from how late you are to practices,” I said teasingly before glancing at the blonde woman. They shared the same eyes and a part of me was curious “And who’s the pretty lady?”

She grinned in response and elbowed Tanaka’s side roughly, getting an irritated groan out of him. “I like her! I’m Saeko, Ryuunosuke’s big sis!”

Saeko held out her hand, which I shook firmly. “I’m Hisakawa Chouko, it’s nice to meet you, Saeko-san.”

Her eyes lit up in recognition at my name and a saucy little smile worked its way onto her lips. The siblings shared a look, Saeko like she knew some big, juicy secret and Tanaka like he promised great pain if she said anything out of line.

“Call me nee-san. Now what’s a cute, little thing like you doing with such a heavy cart?” she asked, not giving Tanaka a chance to speak.

“Uhh, I guess you could say this is a punishment from my grandmother. We own a bakery and I got stuck with buying the ingredients for our big order,” I yawned then smiled sheepishly. “I’m a hypocrite. I’m not a morning person at all.”

Saeko grinned and pushed Tanaka towards me, who let out an indignant squawk of, “nee-san!”

“Then let Ryuu-chan help you! What kind of senpai would he be if he left his innocent kouhai sleepy and vulnerable for the whole world to take?” Saeko grinned and ran off with her cart before either of us could protest.

I blinked a few times until a giggle slipped out. Tanaka just groaned to himself and covered his face with his hands. I wonder if it was a common occurrence for his sister to just throw him at girls he knew and hoped something to come out of it.

“I would love to have your help, Tanaka-senpai. I have no car or bike and I could really use some help carrying these back to the bakery,” I admitted sheepishly, smiling nervously.

He peeked at me through his fingers before slipping into “senpai mode”, as I like to call it. Oh god, just kill me now. He’s such a dork, it’s too much for my little heart to take.

“Of course!” he exclaimed and looked at my cart then paled a little. “You sure have a lot of things. You were going to carry these back yourself?”

I shrugged. “I mean, I could try to do it. I’d look like a pack mule, but I could do it.”

“But you’re so . . . short.”

“Oi! Just because I’m short doesn’t mean I’m not strong! I could carry you around this entire store if I wanted to. I could carry my best friend around in middle school, you’d practically be nothing,” I argued, poking his chest.

Sensing a challenge, his grin stretched across his face in one of his signature delinquent faces. He shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned down so we were eye level. Much like when I first met him, it took a lot of willpower not to throw my arms around him and coo over how adorkable he was being.

“Oh yeah? I’d like to see you try, short stuff,” he said, his voice gravelly.

Without warning, I managed to scoop Tanaka into my arms after kicking the back of his knees. His face turned bright red and struggled to get out of my grip but no, I wasn’t having any of it. He questioned my strength and dammit, he was going to see just how wrong he was. Smirking to myself, I took off running back down the baking aisle. Tanaka shrieked and clung to me tightly.

“Alright, alright! You were right! Now put me down!” he yelled, kicking his feet as if to prove a point.

“But senpai, I haven’t shown you my full potential yet,” I purred, desperately keeping myself from bursting into laughter at the alarming shade of red he was turning.

“Hisakawa-chan!” he shouted as I ran around the corner.

He threw his arms around my neck and I stopped in my tracks when his calloused, tanned fingers just barely brushed against the back of my neck. A strange mewling sound escaped my mouth and I dropped Tanaka to cover my mouth, cheeks turning red. He grumbled to himself, rubbing his ass as he stood up before staring at me. It took a moment for it to click, but when it did, a large shit-eating grin spread across his face.

“Hisa--”

“No.”

“But--”

“No, shut up. You didn’t hear anything.”

I shrieked when he jumped me and started tickling my neck. Tanaka laughed cruelly as I curled up on the floor, laughing to the point of tears as his fingers explored my neck and plush sides, searching for my ticklish spots. For a second when the tickling died down, I cracked an eye open and was about to plead for my life, but I accidentally made eye contact with him. How come I never really appreciated how beautiful his eyes were?

“Ahem.”

We didn’t really understand the position we were in or the scene we were causing until people were stopping and staring at us, whispering amongst each other. An older gentleman stood several feet away, looking at us with disdain.

“Scatter!” I yelled and we took off running back the way we came.

My heart beat relentlessly in my chest as Tanaka laughed loudly and gently pushed me forward towards my abandoned cart. I got lost in the moment and I wanted to tell him. For just a split second, I thought about telling him I was his soulmate . . . but then I remembered how he was practically in love with Kiyoko. It tore at my heart knowing that and I could start to understand a little of what Mom was feeling ever since Dad left. But I smiled and pushed the cart next to Tanaka, content for now just to be close to him.


	4. One Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chouko gets a call while at school and it's not at all what she expects.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You got the fluff, here comes the angst. I was very tempted to call this chapter after an FMA reference.

“Hisakawa Chouko, phone call. Come to the office,” a staff member poked his head through the door. “Please gather your things.”

I exchanged a confused look with Hinata and Kageyama (I’m slowly wearing him down to friendship levels. He will be my friend, god damnit) before packing up my things and swiftly exiting the room. I followed the older man to the office where the receptionist handed me the phone. If her expression was anything to go by, whatever was waiting for me on the other side wasn’t good news. It was then my world just kind of . . . stopped.

“We can’t leave the hospital right now, but we made a call and Hayato is coming to pick you up. You need to be strong for your mama right now, Chouko. She’s going to need every single one of us to pull through.”

It really wasn’t uncommon for soulmates to not work out romantically. On some rare occasions, soulmates were platonic. It was sadly more common for the relationship to rot and turn toxic. For my parents, it was a little different. They met when they were young enough and had different marks, but similar in a way that they both revolved around music. They fell in love and Mom was so head over heels for Dad, her tattoo actually  _ changed _ as she grew. Her own symbol changed to match the one on her dad and grew more distant from  _ her _ soulmate’s symbol. Mom changed so much to be Dad’s soulmate, it was actually . . . really unhealthy.

They eventually got married and I came along. Things were fine until we moved to Tokyo and Dad’s new work associate turned out to be his real soulmate. I remembered spending a lot of nights at various friends houses when the fighting became too loud. Then one morning when I came back from another sleepover, Dad was gone and Mom was inconsolable. A few days later, we moved in with Grandma and Grandpa. Despite him not being her real soulmate, it was so real to her that Mom suffered from a broken heart. Soulmates who suffer from broken hearts have a sixty percent chance of dying. For non-mated pairs, suffering from heartbreak wasn’t as common and the chances of dying from it were far smaller. I had hoped that since they weren’t real soulmates, she would get better soon. But Dad was all she knew and without Dad, who else was there? After all, there was no guarantee she would ever find her true soulmate.

With that weighing in my mind, I waited in front of the school with my bag and schoolwork as students milled about during lunch. I sent off a quick text to Daichi telling him that I was leaving early and I would fill him in on it later. It was all I could do to keep from falling apart right there.

“Hey, is that . . . Hisakawa-chan!”

I bit my wobbling lip and cursed every god in existence. Of course Tanaka would find me right when I wanted to talk to no one. 

“What’s going on? Why are you standing here?” he asked when he jogged up next to me.

I took a deep breath. One, two, three, four, five. “Tanaka-senpai, can you please leave me alone?”

“Hey, are you okay? Shit! A-are you crying? Why are you crying? Do I have to beat someone up?” he rambled frantically, looking around for any kind of help.

If it was literally any other situation, I would have been laughing my ass off. But I couldn’t help crying in front of my soulmate over my mom’s poor health. Crying evolved into full on sobbing. Body shaking, gasping for air, the whole deal. Great, I probably made Tanaka even more worried than he already was.

“Hey, hey! Easy there! You need to breathe evenly! You’re hyperventilating!” Tanaka yelled but it wasn’t getting through. He grabbed my hands and jerked me to attention. “Just breathe with me!”

For the next couple minutes, he tried to get me to calm down and breathe slower. He even exaggerated his breaths whenever I started to lose it again. I sniffled once I finally calmed down and decided that even if he didn’t know I was his soulmate, I would have just this one comfort. Tanaka jumped when I wrapped my arms around him, still shaking, and pressed my ear against his chest. His heartbeat was a little erratic, but I did just majorly freak him out. Slowly and awkwardly, he reciprocated the hug and pat me on the head a couple times. Tanaka was a dork, an awkward person when it came to comforting a crying girl, but damn if he didn’t try his best. That was probably what I liked most about him. He always gave it his all, even if he had no idea what he was doing.

“Wanna talk?” Tanaka asked when I quieted down, his voice unusually soft but extremely comforting.

“Not now . . . But thank you. I don’t think I could’ve lasted the trip,” I whimpered and reluctantly pulled away to give him a miniscule, watery smile. “I really appreciate what you did.”

He forced a bright smile. “Okay, but make sure you talk to someone, whatever it is. It’s not good keeping this all locked up, okay? At least do it for your most favorite senpai?”

“Okay, okay. I was going to call Daichi later anyway. But really though, thank you.”

He flushed at the thanks and started to ramble again. I smiled softly and that was when Hayato pulled up. Thankfully he didn’t make a scene but did raise an eyebrow in my direction when I got in the car. I shook my head and wiped the remaining tears with the sleeve of my uniform. I was lucky to have such a nice soulmate.


	5. Reunited and it Feels So Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chouko goes with the volleyball team go to Tokyo to have a shared practice with Nekoma and to get her mind off her mother. She expects it to run smoothly then separate afterwards to catch up with an old friend but runs into them during practice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is messy (to me anyway) but I remember having a hell of a lot of fun writing it out forever ago.

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to come along?” I asked Daichi as we stepped off the bus in front of Nekoma High.

“You’re practically another manager, it’s fine. Besides, you have some friends in Tokyo, don’t you?” he asked, throwing his duffle bag strap over his shoulder.

He clearly just wanted to keep an eye on me since Mom was still in a shaky spot. But on the bright side, she met her soulmate. Doctor Takaya was an . . . interesting man, to say the least. Appearance wise, he was practically the opposite of Dad. Dad was short and stocky with the typical businessman hair and wore business clothing most of the week. The doctor was tall and thin with a clean shaved head and dark blue scrubs underneath a long white coat. He was very deadpan and it was hard to tell if he was serious or not. Plus, it seemed like thanks to late nights and double shifts at the hospital, a part of him was dead on the inside. While he was worried about my mom, he wasn’t impressed with how she ended up there. I may have . . . accidentally spied on them during one visit a couple days after her hospitalization.

* * *

_I leaned against the wall next to the door, afraid to go inside. Doctor Takaya was in there and after the first awkward meeting, I wanted to steer clear for a little while. So with him checking up on Mom with a slightly more displeased expression on his face than usual, I didn’t want to walk in on them in case they talked about their soulmate status._

_“It’s pathetic. You claimed to love each other, but a true, healthy love doesn’t mean fighting everyday in front of your only daughter and changing yourself to the point you don’t know who you are. This is a broken heart, but I say why, it’s not over the loss of a deadbeat husband, it’s you realizing you don’t know who you are anymore without him,” Doctor Takaya reprimanded her severely. Good call on the not walking in thing. “Soulmates of doctors get special privileges. I want you to start seeing a therapist here, it won’t cost you anything. You can’t keep depending on your parents and daughter to keep you afloat.”_

_I heard Mom laughed tiredly and shift around on her bed. “Doctor Takaya, I’m such a mess. You deserve a better soulmate.”_

_He snorted. “You are a mess, that just means you have to try harder to impress me.”_

* * *

Mom was seeing a therapist and Doctor Takaya was continually checking up on not only her, but me as well. He was nice, a little weird, but weren’t we all? Anyway, only time would tell if they were going to be platonic or romantic. It didn’t matter much to me as long as Mom got back on her feet.

I smiled and nodded, holding onto my backpack just a little bit tighter. “Yep! I think some friends from middle school go to Nekoma, too. Would you mind if I wandered off for a little bit to explore?”

When I lived in Tokyo, I really didn’t make a lot of friends, but the ones I did were all older than me. My best friend was, thankfully, only a year older than me and always helped out whenever someone tried to pick on me. He usually scared them off pretty good.

The Nekoma gym was big, a hell of a lot bigger than the Karasuno second gym. The Nekoma boy’s volleyball team were already out on the court, warming up and practicing amongst each other. The Karasuno team already broke up and to mingle so I just followed Kiyoko and helped her with the equipment we brought and the boy’s actually let up help carry.

“Hey, Kiyoko-san, I’m gonna go for a little walk before the match starts,” I said, setting my bag down next to hers.

“Alright, don’t get lost,” she said softly.

Humming to myself, I walked around the boys and the court, making my way towards the exit. Yet with every step I took, it felt like someone was staring right into my very soul. It was a little unnerving and I tried to ignore the feeling without letting it show how nervous the stare me feel.

“Hey, turn around,” a voice said right behind me, causing an uproar of whispers on both teams.

Turning around, I gasped. Towering over me was my longtime friend, Taketora. He was making that silly face that was supposed to scare others and had his arms folded over his chest. Of course, that was his usual greeting whenever there were other people around.

“Oi, Tora, what do you think--”

“Tora-kun!” I squealed, hugging him around the waist, picking him up, and spinning him around. “I’ve missed you so much! You didn’t tell me you were on the Nekoma volleyball team!”

“Yeah, well, you didn’t tell me you were a manager for the Karasuno volleyball team either,” he argued, ruffling my hair with a crooked grin when I set him back down.

“Oi, that’s recent and technically not true. I’m more there for moral support. But _you’re_ a year older than me, so it doesn’t count,” I stuck my tongue out at him.

“Hey, hey! Yamamoto’s actually talking to a girl!” the tall white haired Nekoma player exclaimed, slightly shaking the pudding haired boy.

“Hisakawa-chan, you know Tora?” Tanaka asked, waltzing up to us with Nishinoya in tow.

“He’s my best friend!” I said, hugging Taketora’s arm with a smile.

“What about us, Hisakawa-chan?” Hinata exclaimed, slightly pouting next to the ever angry looking Kageyama.

“Taketora was my best friend before I moved back. We did everything together, so it’s still kind of disappointing you’re still afraid of girls,” I said with a wicked grin, looking at my tall friend, who flushed and started sputtering rebuttals. “Hush, you’re afraid and everyone knows it.”

“If you know this, then how come he ain’t afraid of you?” one of the Nekoma boys, a shorty with brown hair, asked.

I blinked and chewed on my lip in thought, but came up blank. I could vaguely remember snippets on a conversation, but honestly, it was too long ago for me to remember all the details. So I just shrugged my shoulders and looked to Taketora for an answer. He rubbed his head in thought before snapping his fingers with a grin.

“I was a hero!” he boasted, getting some disbelieving looks from his team and my own. “It’s true! Some second-years in middle school were messing with her and I chased them off. It was the right thing to do as her senpai to make sure she was okay.”

“Yeah, that’s right! And _I_ had to reassure you that you’d get over your nervousness if you just treated me like one of the guys. Worked a little too well,” I teased him, making him scoff before ruffling my hair again, loosening the hair claw holding it together.

“Why do you say that, huh, Hisakawa-chan?” Tanaka questioned, glancing at me with a suspicious look.

“It’s why we broke up,” we said in unison with a shrug.

I jumped at the sudden shouts of confusion and winced when Daichi, who was dutifully tossing a volleyball back and forth with Suga, suddenly went limp, the ball striking his face. But he wasn’t phased and just turned in my direction, smiling too happily, too sweetly. He was _beyond_ pissed that he was just hearing about this. I was definitely going to get the third degree on the way home later.

“Wait, wait, wait, how the hell did _he_ \--” the captain of Nekoma stepped in, pointing to Taketora. “--Get you to date him? He can’t even approach a pretty girl without bursting into tears and running away, let alone asking them on dates and physically touching them.”

I snickered at Taketora’s embarrassment but gave an honest answer. “By the time I was a second-year, people thought we were already dating. We hung out with each other a lot, so we tried it. Wasn’t much different than what we usually did, but whenever we tried to get more romantic, it’d be awkward or we’d start laughing. We just work better as friends so we ended it a couple months later.”

The months we dated were nice, nothing wrong with them. But we just couldn’t form a romantic connection. When we hugged, cuddled, even kissed, it was all just platonic. Hell, I changed clothes in front of him a handful of times we were so platonic. Of course I didn’t tell Daichi this because he was busy with his volleyball team and frankly, I don’t know what he would be like if I had a boyfriend. He would either be supportive or overprotective, trying to scare him away. So the less Daichi knew, the better.

Nekoma and Karasuno gawked at us openly but we shrugged it off. It was a common reaction whenever someone learned that Taketora dated a girl so we’ve grown not to be offended by it. It was a long process, but eventually it got to the point where we could just shrug it off. Though, there were times I found Taketora frustrated by it all and usually would have to calm him down.

“Oh, that reminds me. I made some yakisobapan for us to eat after practice. We can still head to the movies afterwards, right?” I asked and his eyes lit up.

“Homemade?” he gasped and I nodded. “Hell yeah! I’ve missed getting daily yakisoba bread!”

“Daily?” Tanaka mumbled as though he were a ghost of his former self.

Nishinoya pat him on the shoulder sympathetically before the coaches yelled that the match was going to start soon. Taketora and I exchanged one last hug before going to our own sides of the court. I methodically avoided Daichi and sat myself down next to Kiyoko, smiling contentedly.

“Daily yakisoba bread?” she inquired.

I nodded my head. “He was my best friend so I treated him a lot to whatever he wanted and he did the same for me. I made him an unhealthy amount of yakisobapan, it really did feel daily, and he took me out on friend dates. Usually it was just a movie, but sometimes we’d catch a fancy dinner or hang out at each other’s house and nap together.”

Kiyoko nodded her head and the match began. It was extremely close, both sides putting up a good fight, but Nekoma won the first set. Even though the crows were frustrated, they seemed like they were having a good time. As Kiyoko and I were handing out water bottles and towels, Tanaka came running up to me, which completely threw me off. He always ran to Kiyoko with Nishinoya whenever we started passing the goods out, so it was a little suspicious when he came to me with a big smile and took them from my hands.

I pursed my lips and raised an eyebrow. “Are you feeling okay, Tanaka-senpai?”

“Why, are you worried about me?” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows. His smile widened when he actually got a giggle out of me.

“It’s just that you never come to me when we’re passing out water bottles and towels,” I said, placing my hands on my hips, a playful look on my face. “You sure you’re okay? You and Kiyoko-chan didn’t have a lovers spat, did you?”

His face turned redder than a tomato and became a stuttering mess, unable to get a single word out clearly. I laughed because, _holy shit_ , he looked so adorkable. When I calmed down, I pat Tanaka on the back and smiled up at him.

“Calm down, senpai. I was joking. Good luck out there, can’t wait to see you spike us some points,” I giggled and left to give Asahi his water bottle and towel.

The second set was also a good game. Whenever Nekoma scored a point, Karasuno scored right back. I cheered whenever Karasuno made a successful spike, especially Hinata and Kageyama’s infamous quick attacks. Halfway through the set, however, we had our first injury. Taketora went to receive Tanaka’s spike, but the powerful spike hit his ankle and he went down.

The coaches called for a time out and I rushed over to Taketora along with his team. He tried standing up but couldn’t put his weight on his ankle.

“This isn’t good,” I tutted as two of his teammates helped him over to the bench. “Take off your sock and shoe.”

“It’s fine, I just need a minute,” he argued and I snorted.

Instead of arguing with him, I crouched down and carefully slid his shoe then sock off, apologizing every time he hissed from the pain. It was already a little swollen, he must have rolled his ankle when he fell.

“I’m no doctor, but I don’t think you can play for the rest of the game,” I sighed, standing back up and facing the Nekoma team. “Do you know where I can get ice for his ankle?”

With Taketora out of commission, one of his teammates filled in for him. Much to the displeasure of the majority of Karasuno, I stayed on Nekoma’s side of the court with Taketora. This was far from the first time he ever sprained or rolled his ankle, so we fell into our usual routine when it happened. I sat on the bench and he laid down, using my lap as a pillow. His injured ankle, now properly wrapped up with some bandages, was propped up on someone’s duffle bag with some ice on it. He grumbled and complained about not being able to finish the match for the rest of the game. Not even the news that his team won could cheer him up.

“You’re such a baby,” I flicked his forehead. “Would some homemade yakisoba bread make you feel better?”

“Yeah,” he pouted.

He sat up and I made my way to the other side of the court to get my bag as everyone else started cleaning up. I felt a little bad for not helping, but Coaches Nekomata and Naoi asked me to take care of Taketora and I really couldn’t refuse them. Grabbing my backpack, I whirled around and stumbled back when I saw Nishinoya and Hinata standing in front of me, smiling.

“Can I help you?” I raised an eyebrow.

“No, no, you’re fine, Hisakawa-chan,” Nishinoya waved off my question but his smile grew wider. “You seem to be pretty friendly with Yamamoto-san.”

“Well we’re best friends and we used to date, of course we’re friendly,” I shrugged and started walking but they followed me.

“How come you’re watching over him?” Hinata asked from my right.

“The Nekoma coaches asked me to and he’s my friend. If one of you were hurt, you’d get the same treatment,” I answered, opening my backpack and pulling out a still warm container.

“So if someone like Ryuu got hurt, you’d let him use your lap as a pillow and you’d feed him?” Nishinoya asked.

I looked at him questioningly. “I give him food every week and if his hands aren’t hurt then he can feed himself. Nishinoya-senpai, where are you going with this?”

His cheeks turned pink, his eyes sparkled brightly, and his chest puffed up just from calling him senpai. Honestly, I will never get over his and Tanaka’s reactions to it.

“Ryuu’s jealous!” he blurted out before slapping his hands over his mouth.

I rolled my eyes but smiled at the older and slightly taller libero. There was a small sense of satisfaction hearing that Tanaka was jealous, but it was probably just overprotectiveness. Ever since he found me crying my eyes out and learned about the situation with my mom, he gets just as protective as Daichi.

“Well, next time Tanaka-senpai gets hurt, I’ll be right there to comfort him, okay?”

I scampered back over to Taketora, missing the mischievous looks Nishinoya and Hinata shared. Yet I had a feeling it wasn’t an accident when throughout the next week of volleyball practice Tanaka was pelted with volleyballs “accidentally” sent his way by two certain short boys. I had to reassure him many times on the sidelines that they weren’t out to get him.


	6. Not Pity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chouko just wanted to have a normal practice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLA short chapter because, as I stated at the start, I only write what I want. So, I just wanted to jot down how this scene would go down and never added on to it. I'll post maybe two more chapters to make up for this.

“Chouko-chan,” Kiyoko said calmly.

I ignored her in favor of changing my wet shirt for my PE shirt. My mind was just a complete blank after what happened. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to practice outside and who thought it was a good idea to hose down the first years by surprise with freezing cold water, including poor Yachi and I? Nishinoya, that’s who. Daichi sure gave him an earful and Suga gave him a scalding lecture, but that was immediately forgotten when Hinata had to point out my god damn tattoo through my wet shirt to the entire team. I was just lucky Tanaka was late for practice.

“Chouko-chan, y-your tattoo,” Yachi began but jumped when I violently threw my wet shirt against the floor.

No one was supposed to know, not even Daichi. Who knew how long it would be until word got to Tanaka? It wasn’t supposed to be like this!

“Why didn’t you tell him?” Kiyoko questioned, referring to the numerous times I saw Tanaka’s tattooed back whenever he ripped off his shirt in excitement.

Taking a deep breath, I smiled at Kiyoko the best I could manage. “Because he loves you, Kiyoko-chan. Not all soulmates were destined to be together, trust me, I know. Just last year my dad ran off with his “true soulmate”, completely forgetting about me and my mom. Just the way he looks at you . . . I figured that was my situation. It’s better that he doesn’t know, y’know? I don’t want to force him into something he doesn’t want.”

Kiyoko reached down and wiped my cheeks with the sleeve of her jacket. I wasn’t even aware that I started crying. But damn, it’s understandable, right? He’s my soulmate and I love that stupid dork with all my heart, but that doesn’t mean he’s  _ my _ soulmate. That doesn’t mean he loves me in the way I love when his eyes light up with a fiery passion when he’s met with a challenge, the way I adore all the scary faces he makes to intimidate and scare off others, the way my heart swoons when he acts mature and inspirational towards his kouhai. I loved every little thing that made him Tanaka Ryuunosuke, but I didn’t know if he loved anything about me other than my melonpan.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly and hugged me, smoothing out my damp hair. It wasn’t pitying, but sympathetic. She was regretful for the way things were, she  _ knew _ this was a tricky situation.

Yachi awkwardly joined our hug when Kiyoko motioned for her to come help comfort me. I laughed a little, getting a smile out of the two girls.

“I already told them not to tell Tanaka-san. Something like this needs to be told to him by you,” Kiyoko said and I hugged her back.

“Thank you.”


	7. Chouko the Vixen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where's Chouko? Oh, Hinata knows? WHO'S KAZAKI?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a perspective from Tanaka about his adorable kouhai and a little brother-sister interaction between Daichi and Chouko.

“Where’s Chouko-chan?” Daichi asked the first years as they entered the gym, noticing a distinct lack of his childhood friend.

“That boy in Stingyshima’s class who likes Hisakawa-chan gave her a love letter and she’s going to meet him behind the school,” Hinata exclaimed lazily, catching a stray volleyball before it could hit him. “She said she’d be over whenever she was done.”

“Wait, since when did someone start liking Hisakawa-chan?!” Nishinoya and Tanaka exclaimed, dashing over to the orange haired boy.

“You don’t know?” Hinata gasped like he was about to drop the juiciest bit of gossip to ever grace their ears. “Hisakawa-chan made these cookies to celebrate our class doing a good job and this second year stopped by to deliver some papers but Hisakawa-chan shared some cookies with him. It was like it had a love potion or something because kept following her around, being extra friendly with her. He even made her a couple bentos, but today he gave her a love letter.”

“Dumbass!” Kageyama hit Hinata over the head, scowling. “When she told you that, she didn’t mean for you to go blabbing to everyone else!”

“But Hisakawa-chan looked so-so-so “gwah” when she told us!” Hinata exclaimed, unable to put it in words, but sound effects. And the majority couldn’t really understand what he meant by his sound effects, but they were always positive. So who know how Chouko really was.

A lump formed in Tanaka’s throat at the thought of some first year confessing to Chouko. He wouldn’t lie saying that he was protective of her. After catching her sobbing her heart out, he just felt the need to protect her. Not in a brotherly way like Daichi, but in a way that she’s short and cute and fluffy and needs to be protected at all costs. Who was to say this first year wasn’t just playing some cruel joke on her? Or what if he had other bad intentions? Just the thought of this random first year trying something on her was enough to get his blood boiling.

“Relax, Ryuu! Hisakawa-chan is a big girl, no need to worry!” Nishinoya exclaimed, slapping his friend on the back. “Even Sawamura-senpai isn’t this worked up over it. S’not like she’s going to say yes, right? Don’t girls usually wait for their soulmate?”

That’s true. Not just girls, but a lot of people waited for their soulmate or even soulmates.

“But didn’t Hisakawa-chan date Yamamoto for a while?” Hinata asked aloud.

Nishinoya sent the short, but still taller than him, first year an agitated look as Tanaka began worrying again. Of course! How could they forget that their sweet, thoughtful kouhai dated someone like Yamamoto Taketora, who was petrified at the sight of seeing a pretty girl?! If Chouko could happily date someone like him, who else did she have wrapped around her fingers?!

* * *

Perhaps I should have skipped out on volleyball just this once. The second I entered the gym, I was bombarded by Nishinoya and Tanaka.

“So! So! What’d you say?” Nishinoya asked eagerly.

“Say about what?” I asked, raising a brow.

“The guy who gave you a love letter! Did you turn him down?” Tanaka asked with just as much excitement, just there was something in his voice that made him sound hopeful.

“Oh! You mean Kazaki-kun,” I said, cheeks turning a little pink as I thought about the first year. His letter was probably the sweetest thing I ever read, it’s unfortunate though how the meeting went. A smile wormed it’s way onto my face. “Did they tell you about him?”

“Hinata blabbed,” Kageyama called out just before tossing to Asahi.

I chuckled. “Well, no harm, no foul. Um, I didn’t really turn him down, per se.”

“You accepted?!” Nishinoya and Tanaka exclaimed loud enough to disturb the entire volleyball club.

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “No! He rejected  _ me _ !”

There was a pause in the entire second gym as all eyes turned to me. My face turned a bright red and I tried to laugh it off.

“Yeah, um, Kazaki-kun did have some feelings for me. But, uh, when we were going to meet up behind the school, he, well, found his soulmate? It’s one of those love at first sight kind of deals so I left so they could get better acquainted,” I explained, wringing my hands with a lopsided smile. “So, yeah, I didn’t accept his love letter nor did I turn him down. I just have some bad luck with love, really.”

I shrugged, trying to get over the embarrassment of what happened with Kazaki and thankfully they started to go back to practice. Except for Tanaka. Of course he couldn’t just let me stew until I got over it. Instead, he walked up to me and grabbed my face, smushing my cheeks as he looked at me just a tad bit too seriously.

“You don’t have bad luck with love. It just means that you’re meant to be with your soulmate,” he said then grinned, patting my cheeks. “Your soulmate gonna be one lucky person when you meet them!”

My expression softened and it took a lot of effort not to tear up and start crying. Instead I nodded my head and smiled softly at him. His grin grew bigger and he went back to practice. Walking over to Kiyoko and Yachi, I couldn’t help but feel a little . . . hollow, I guess would be the best way to describe it. I’m not quite sure how to feel. I knew I was sad and despite Tanaka’s attempt to cheer me up and be a senpai, it left me feeling in a daze all throughout practice. It didn’t help that on the walk home, Daichi confronted me about this whole mess.

“Why don’t you tell him?” he asked suddenly, pausing in eating his pork bun.

I looked up from the ground. Daichi sighed irritatedly before lightly hitting my head with his school bag.

“You’re obviously torn up about telling him that you’re his soulmate, so just tell him. Even if he rejects you, I’ll be there to piece you back together,” he said, his gaze softening. “You’re family, Chouko, I won’t let what happened to your mom happen to you if he turns you away.”

I gulped, feeling the tears spring to my eyes. I started wiping furiously at them before Daichi could see but it was to late. He saw and already pulled me into a one armed hug, muttering calming words.

“I-I want to tell him, b-b-but it’s so-so hard, Daichi! I’m afraid of be-being hurt like Mom, to know th-that the person I love doesn-n’t love me back,” I wailed, dropping my school bag and clung to my brother figure like my life depended on it. “I-it’s scary how mu-much I love him already, Daichi . . . I don’t know what to do . . .”

“You’ll figure it out, you always do,” he said then smiled a little. “If he breaks your heart, I’ll be there to . . . teach him a lesson, on and off the court. And if he accepts you as his soulmate, well, I’ll still probably do the same thing.”

“Bro,” I gave a watery laugh, looking up at Daichi with a lopsided smile.

“I’ve known you since you were a baby, someone has to be the overprotective older brother,” he shrugged.


	8. Never Let Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First comes the melonpan then the comforting, now handholding, and it's getting a little too real. Maybe it's finally time Chouko just let this pressure off her shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, it just started off as following a writing prompt I read off of tumblr but now it's honestly one of my favorite parts? Man, I'm a sucker for handholding.

“I said I was sorry,” I rolled my eyes, adjusting my grip on the umbrella as Tanaka walked in front of me, jumping in puddles and pouting like a little kid.

I woke up late this morning and forgot to bring Tanaka’s weekly melonpan. He was so upset, he refused to talk to me all day until I promised that if he came to the bakery with me, he could have whatever he wanted. He was still pouting though and it was a little annoying, especially when he kept jumping in puddles, so I decided to walk behind him to stay out of the splash zone.

We were getting closer to the shop thankfully, since it was absolutely pouring. My shoes were already soaked through and my bare legs were numb from the cold. I envied Tanaka and his pants. Why couldn’t girls wear them? Why skirts? It’s stupid, even if we do get winter skirts, it’s not the same as having nice, warm pants.

As I mentally groaned about the school uniform, I forgot to warn Tanaka about a certain puddle to not jump in. A nice, big puddle right in front of a little store that looked like the perfect puddle to jump in. It was, however, a devious trap no one bothered to fix yet and was actually a pretty big hazard. So when he jumped into the puddle and sank to about his chest, I nearly had a heart attack.

“What the hell!” he screeched, scrambling to get out of the water filled hole.

I dropped my umbrella and ran up to Tanaka, all the while biting my lip to keep from laughing. Kneeling down, I hooked my arms around his waist and hoisted him out of the water, getting a fair amount of dirty rainwater splashed on me in the process. Once he was out of the hole enough, he dragged out his legs and planted them firmly on the ground. Almost reluctantly, I let the taller boy go and blanched at the sight of our wet uniforms.

“Let’s hurry up, the bakery might have some spare uniforms,” I said, picking up my umbrella and grabbing Tanaka’s wrist, dragging him the rest of the way to the shop. 

He pouted and wiggled his arm around until he was holding my hand firmly. Thank god my cheeks were already red from the cold. Tanaka merely smiled and walked beside me, swinging our arms in time with our steps. Could he be any cuter?

“There, now if I fall into a hole again, you’re coming down with me,” he said, perhaps a bit too cheerfully.

I bit back a snicker and just nodded my head. “Sure, whatever you say, senpai.”

* * *

Hand holding somehow became a normal thing, usually when one of us was dragging the other somewhere. It made my heart soar, but he still chased after Kiyoko, despite her efforts to avoid him since learning we were soulmates. At least Tanaka didn’t seem too bothered by it.

“When are you gonna tell him? I never know if we should congratulate you or not,” Hinata whined once during lunch.

“Look, if we even do get together, you’ll be the first to know after Daichi. You too, Kageyama,” I added on just so I didn’t accidentally offend him.

“What? Of course you’ll get together!” Hinata yelled.

Kageyama slapped the back of his head, glaring at him from the corner of his eyes. “Just leave it alone. Who's to say Hisakawa will be the one to ask him out, anyway? What if he finds out on his own?”

Now, I know Kageyama didn’t mean to, but he just added a lot more stress onto my shoulders. What if Tanaka did find out on his own? Would he even say anything? Of course he would! But would it be acceptance or rejection?

I groaned and slumped against my desk. Hinata hit Kageyama back for me, which sparked a new argument between the two. Sometimes, it felt like it would be easier to live in a world without soulmates.

* * *

“You can’t keep avoiding this, Chouko,” Daichi said sternly.

“Like hell I can’t. We’re months into the school year and do you see who has successfully not blown their secret? This girl,” I jabbed my thumb at my chest then whirled around and tried to stalk away, but Daichi was a persistent little bugger.

In frustration, he pulled up the back of my uniform shirt, making me squeak. “I’m tired of having this conversation with you, Chouko! Tanaka needs to know that you’re his soulmate, you need to deal with this before it tears you apart! Face the fact that you have matching tattoos and that you are hopelessly in love with him!”

_ “I know I’m in love with him! So please let go of my shirt!” _ I squealed loudly and jerked myself away from Daichi and his monstrous grip. “How the hell do I even tell him that I’ve known we were soulmates for months? He’s gonna be mad!”

“Yes, he will, but you can deal with it! Chouko, I love you, I want to see you happy--we all do! And he knows something is wrong because of how you’ve been acting for the last week. He’s going to confront you and you need to be prepared!”

I grimaced and stared at my shoes. Try as I might, I couldn’t shake Kageyama’s words and I just . . . I couldn’t deal with being near Tanaka. So, like a child, I actively avoided him whenever I saw him, sometimes even running in the opposite direction when he clearly saw me. Sometimes he chased after me, but I had two saving graces. The girls bathroom and the girls locker room. A couple times I was late for class, but I was to anxiety ridden over Tanaka to care. I just needed to think of a way to explain to him the soulmate thing without the chance of him hating me. I texted Tora about it a couple times after swearing him to “long distance best friend” secrecy, but he only told me to go for it. Men just don’t understand the mind of a woman.

I looked up at Daichi’s stern face and gulped. “I . . . I need a little time, but I’ll try talking to him soon.”

I used up my weekend thinking deeply about my situation while baking like a machine at the shop. No one interrupted me and I was grateful for it because baking really helped reduce my stress levels and think clearly. Daichi, Kiyoko, everyone was right. Tanaka deserved to know who his soulmate was and I would just have to suck it up. The tall second year wasn’t nearly as Kiyoko crazed now compared to when I first met him, but he still preferred going to her during practices and really only sought me out during games with other schools. I gave him sweet bread and I listened to his passionate talks about volleyball and I held his hand, but he and Noya chased after the third year beauty. I had it bad and he deserved to know, get on with life, and maybe try for a platonic soulmate deal. It would be better to have him in my life as a friend than not at all. But how to tell him . . .


End file.
